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The purpose of this paper is to make a case for creating a strand of negotiated qualifications in the English (and more generally UK) vocational education and training (VET) system, using the approach established through Ufi-Learndirect Learning through Work (LtW).

The paper identifies some limitations in the recent Whitehead review of adult vocational education in relation to people already in work. Drawing on research into learning at work, modifications to the VET qualifications system are proposed based on the LtW approach.

The VET qualifications system assumes a purpose of preparing people for occupational entry and developing essential competence. The needs of adults already in work can be accommodated provided that they can be fitted within structures reflecting this assumption. It is less able to meet the bespoke needs of individual workers or employers. The LtW approach, which enables individual accredited programmes to be negotiated, offers a way forward that preserves the integrity of the qualification system.

Implementing a LtW-type approach in the VET sector is structurally more difficult than in higher education, although less likely to encounter academic resistance. The main challenge is likely to come from the need to modify regulatory rules and design principles for vocational qualifications.

Individually negotiated qualifications have been resisted in VET due to largely unfounded fears about reduced rigour and loss of control of content. The proposed approach offers a means of meeting individual needs while retaining the integrity of the qualifications system and reducing the proliferation of units and content within it.

In the information and communication technology (ICT) industry, and particularly in the software sector, knowledge change, the development of expertise and the construction of professionalism are crucial factors for understanding institutional patterns related to professionalization. This paper draws upon research on professionalization in the ICT industry conducted in Germany to explore how time regimes regarding innovation, qualification requirements, and working time regulations are linked to the structuration of expertise in different organizational settings and correspond to particular and contextual professionalism. Project deadlines play a crucial role in the structuration of expertise as common pattern for IT and telecommunication firms, whereas ongoing education and quality standards integrated into management systems serve to stabilize professionalism in large IT enterprises.

This paper aims to identify proactive supply risk management methods which can be used to reduce or remove risk sources during the supplier selection process, in the context of Western‐based manufacturing companies that source from emerging markets.

Learning from the literature and conducting multiple‐case study analyses of five Western‐based manufacturing companies' sourcing experiences from emerging markets.

The experiences of five Western‐based manufacturing companies suggested that applying the risk management process into supplier selection was particularly important and effective for supply risk reduction when sourcing from emerging markets. Supply risk sources must be identified and proactive supply risk management methods must be used to remove or reduce risk sources for effective supply risk management. The proactive risk management methods discovered in this research are: conducting a supplier questionnaire covering a wide range of business dimensions of the supplier; performing a technical review; negotiating a risk mitigation plan; employing local‐based procurement staff; using a total cost estimate; applying a strict part qualification process.

A multiple‐case study methodology employs a limited number of case studies and therefore may restrict the generalisation of research findings. Manufacturing companies are used as case study organisations for this research. Therefore, the research findings are particularly applicable and useful to manufacturing companies but might not be valid for other types of company. The research focuses on supply risk reduction during the supplier selection process, while further research into other stages of the supply management process is desirable.

The generated proactive supply risk management methods are useful to manufacturing companies looking to source or aiming to improve their sourcing experiences from emerging markets.

The literature provides valuable contents in terms of concepts but lacks proactive supply risk management methods for supply risk management when sourcing from emerging markets. The generated proactive supply risk management methods based on first‐hand information are valuable both to academics and practitioners in this field.

Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are typically issued to solicit competitive proposals for a variety of professional services and commodities. The Baltimore County Purchasing Bureau issued 30 RFPs in fiscal year 2001 as well as 550 requests for formal and informal bids. The use of RFPs and the RFP process for choosing a land developer was creative. The fact that the property to be developed impacted the quality of life of the neighboring residents made their buy-in to the project critical. Therefore, it was prudent to include community representatives in the proposal selection process. This article identifies the unique issues on an RFP for the sale of real property rather than the purchase of services or commodities.

Public agencies have started to shift away from the traditional lowest responsive and responsible bid to other approaches in purchasing certain items and services. These alternative approaches emphasize the quality of the products and the qualifications of the vendors. The purpose of this article is to explore the use qualifications-based selection (QBS) and other non-traditional source selection methods in public procurement processes. An online survey was sent out to 1665 members of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, and a mail survey sent a random sample to 300 American Public Works Association members. The survey results show that while the traditional lowest responsive and responsible bidding is still the dominant selection method when all procurement is considered, QBS and other non-traditional methods have gained wide acceptance and use in public agencies, especially for the purchase of professional services and information technology.

Turkey transformed the public procurement procedures in year 2002 by two laws; Public Procurement Law and Public Procurement Contracts Law. This situation brought about challenges for the stakeholders from both the public sector and private sector. This paper presents an analysis of the new public procurement procedures to understand the path from the determination of the need to the signing of the contract as well as several special provisions for consultancy services, complaint reviews and statistics of the last two years.

The selection of the contractor, as a main participant of a construction project, is the most important and challenging decision process for a client. The purpose of this paper is to propose a multi-agent systems (MAS)-based contractor pre-qualification (CP) model for the construction sector in the frame of the tender management system.

The meta-classification and analysis study of the existing literature on CP, contractor selection and criteria weighting issues, which examines the current and important CP criteria, other than price, is introduced structurally. A quantitative survey, which is carried out to estimate initial weightings of the identified criteria, is overviewed. MAS are used to model the pre-qualification process and workflows are shown in Petri nets formalism. A user-friendly prototype program is created in order to simulate the tendering process. In addition, a real case regarding the construction work in Turkey is analyzed.

There is a lack of non-human-driven solutions and automation in CP and in the selection problem. The proposed model simulates the pre-qualification process and provides consistent results.

The meta-classification study consists of only peer-reviewed papers between 1992 and 2013 and the quantitative survey initiates the perspectives of the actors of Turkish construction sector. Only the traditional project delivery method is selected for the proposed model, that is other delivery methods such as design/build, project management, etc., are not considered. Open, selective limited and negotiated tendering processes are examined in the study and the direct supply is not considered in the scope.

The implications will help to provide an objective CP and selection process and to prevent the delays, costs and other troubles, which are caused by the false selection of a contractor.

Automation and simulation in the pre-qualification and the selection of the contractor with a non-human-driven intelligent solution ease the decision processes of clients in terms of cost, time and quality.

The purpose of this paper is to review three international frameworks, including the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), in relation to one country’s higher professional and vocational education system.

The frameworks were examined in the context of English higher work-related education, and areas of mismatch identified. These were investigated to identify the extent to which they were due to weaknesses in the national system or to limiting assumptions contained in the frameworks.

Assumptions based on stages of education are problematic in the context of lifelong higher and professional education, while more open, lifelong-learning oriented assumptions can be too skeletal to aid comparisons between systems of initial vocational education and training. Particular problems are identified with assumptions contained in the ISCED that do not reflect the reality of professional education.

International frameworks need to take account of patterns of learning that take place outside of formal institutions and throughout life, but which lead to equivalent outcomes. Nevertheless, it is not adequate to substitute assumptions based only on the level of achievement.

The assumptions underpinning the ISCED in particular mean that equivalent achievements in different systems can be classified differently, leading to under-reporting of individual achievements, a lack of comparability in international statistics, and potential for policy distortion.

The paper builds on the work of Hippach-Schneider et al. by providing additional evidence, from a different national context, for issues relating to the ISCED in the context of higher professional and vocational education, and extends this analysis to the two major European frameworks.

This paper aims to explore structural and systemic influences in the development of competence models and qualifications systems at sectoral and national levels across Europe, considering the influences of different socio‐economic models of skill formation on the processes of design and provision of qualifications.

The paper is based on a meta analysis of three European projects that used literature review, documentary analysis and interviews with practitioners and policy makers.

The main methodological and practical challenges posed by varieties of competence and qualifications to inter‐country comparability of qualifications are shown to be related to different socio‐economic models of skill formation.

The research is limited to 13 countries and four sectors but these were carefully selected to maximise coverage of European diversity with respect to competence models, training regimes and approaches to qualifications. There is clearly a need for further research involving more countries and sectors.

The paper offers recommendations for improving the potential of the European Qualifications Framework to promote comparability of qualifications and hence mobility of labour. These recommendations will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners involved in using the EQF and similar instruments.

This is the first systematic attempt to explore the methodological and practical difficulties of establishing comparability between qualifications.

This paper sets out to examine whether the process of accrediting prior experiential learning (APEL) as used in UK universities is the most appropriate approach for providing academic recognition for work‐based projects and learning.

Work‐based projects that had already been assessed in the context of a professional qualification were re‐examined to identify how they might be used towards a master's degree and what if any additional work the candidates would need to complete.

The study finds that in most cases it appeared that the candidates would be able in principle to gain a full master's degree based on their existing work and associated reflection and writing‐up, without the need to carry out additional investigation or projects.

The findings are based on a small sample of individuals from a specific field (the conservation of cultural heritage), and while the findings are clear and appear to have wider applicability they can only be regarded as pointers for practical trialling and further investigation.

The findings suggest that the current approach to APEL used in UK universities needs to be expanded so that awards can be made substantially on the basis of already‐completed workplace projects. A trial of this approach is proposed using candidates from the cultural heritage sector.

The paper proposes a basis for changes to credit practice that will provide better scope for individuals to use and build on workplace activities in gaining academic awards.